Wow what a jerk. I would not give her a cent. I would ensure I paid the nice vet tech however, she probably did all the work on him anyways

 

The bloodwork thing might be because you are moving him, and they want to charge you the bloodwork fee. =\ What a rotten vet!

 

That vet sounds like a real jerk. "Better thing to do", really? It's terrible that the vet is making things more stressful than they need to be and giving you mixed signals about his condition. I hope his transfer to the new vet's goes as smoothly as possible. It's for the best at this point that he's in a well managed place and looked after by thoughtful and professional people. Anyway, weight gain and preening are signs that he's feeling better! That's amazing; Rascal's a fighter for sure.

 

Wow, and things just got more confusing. I told my boss what is happening and that I cannot go on the business trip (Nov 3-7). I asked my boss to help with my situation with Rascal, so my boss called my current vet and spoke to her for almost 30 minutes he said. My boss told me the vet said if I transfer my bird (I don't know if my boss was being honest or who to believe anymore) but he told me the vet said the vet I wanted to transfer my bird to is not a real nor experienced bird bird vet and if I move the bird it will die.

My current vet then called me and conferenced my boss in on the call... I must say she was suddenly actually very nice on the phone!! She talked to me and my boss on the phone in a 3 way conference.

We finally agreed that the bird is best left at the current clinic and he will have his blood results in on Monday, at which time we can determine whether he has a chance to live and go home if the bloodwork is ok and the phosphorus is much lower as right now it is at 9.8. If the phosphorus is not much lower on his next blood test which come in on Monday, then he is in BIG trouble. Even though he looks great on the outside, he could be in serious trouble on the inside.

I again mentioned I do not feel comfortablee with him coming home right now... not until his new bloodwork results come in and I know he will be ok... which will be in a few days. Plus, he is still getting fluids 4 times a day.

What a nightmare this is. In conclusion, he is not being transferred and staying at the clinic for 3 more days. The vet said he will be a lot more comfortable at home and be able to recover better, which I totally agree with... but I don't feel comfortable with him coming home just yet, not for at least for 2 or 3 more days.

I also finally got the letter I needed from her and can send it into the animal authorities regarding my case.

 

Ok, this sounds crazy to me, why is your boss involved? The old vet seems selfish and evil and only in it for the money... If your new vet isn't real how did you find them? Look up reviews online. You can call your local department of consumer affairs and see if the new vet is real, because if they are they have a business license through them. No matter where you take him, he needs to be at a vet who doesn't have better things to
Do than make the person who hurt him pay, and who does NOT YELL AT OWNERS because that is a sign she doesn't care about you. If she doesn't care about the owner, do we really think she cares about the pets? See if the receptionist or tech can fax you the paperwork. Ugh! I am so mad about how you two are being treated!

 

Holy crap! What a nightmare.

I don't get why blood tests take so long for results. When Skiddles was seriously ill last year she got blood tests done in the morning and the results were in by 6pm. The vet rang me said he was emailing me the results - and that he would ring back in 10 minutes when I had the result in front of me so he could explain the results (like Rascal some result were high and some low, and none of hers were normal).

She then had the care she needed - granted she did go in and out quite a few times and had I think three lots of blood tests - before and after her meds then a few months later. NOT ONCE did they complain or anything, they were so compassionate. I guess they are bird lovers though as its a bird only vet clinic.

I hope Rascal is improving, poor baby.

Sorry, but I think your vet is a heartless b%tch.

Your boss seems very supportive of you - I presume you didn't have to go away on your business trip.

Please take care of yourself Juliet

 

I am so worn out and confused. Now my boss looked up the vet I wanted to transfer him to and he says she does not have good "credentials". This vet I am referring to is Dr Heather Johnson over at Harmony Animal Clinic... she was very nice.

I don't know what to do anymore. All I know is that I am not ready for Rascal to come home not yet, I don't think that's safe quite yet. I also know my current vet was super rude and rather nasty to me and then was so sweet when I had my boss conferenced in on the call today.

My boss is nice and very helpful, I told him I am having mental breakdown and to please help as I am super worried about Rascal. I do like the tech who has been taking care of him though, and you can see he has been treated well with all the greens, veggies and fruits they are offering him to keep his liquid intake up.

I am exhausted, all I ate today was 2 granola bars I need to make something to eat and then resume what is happening tomorrow.

I did buy a fish tank today with a see through screen lid, as I know when I bring him home he must stay inside the fish tank for quite some time. I really really really hope his bloodwork will have improved... that is honestly what I am MOST freaked out about right now.

I will try to call the lab, maybe certain tests takes longer to get results? I'm not sure. So strange, beacsue the nice vet said results should come in very fast... but then the mean vet said other vet isn't running correct test. Confusing.

 

I now understand that his blood isn't being taken until tomorrow late afternoon and then being fedex'd to the university of miami med school out for mon delivery... so I should have results on mon or tues (it appears it wil be tues) at the very latest. Rascal will be staying at the clinic until I get the results. After which I will be bringing him home on Tues afternoon or Wednesday morning, hopefully with happy results. Hopefully =(

And I've managed to cut my trip much shorter. I refuse to leave town for 6 days, noway!! Thus, I must fly to NYC for only one day (I will only be gone Monday) and then flying back home on Tues. This was a critical busienss trip but nothing more important than my bird so I'm not staying entire 6 days (have already chnaged plane ticket). Must be here to care for my bird!! I will only leave for one day, that was my compromise.

 

Rascal will be staying at the clinic until I get the results. After which I will be bringing him home on Tues afternoon or Wednesday morning

Yay! Good Luck Rascal!

 

Look up some guides on meditational breathing... get some food in you, relax, and try to think about this from the most rational point. He needs to be where he's getting the best treatment. How does she have bad credentials? Credentials mean very little for vets.... so what if they went to some prestigious vet school 40 years ago... if they have never been in it for the animals and don't care to keep updated in modern practices, it doesn't matter. Administering fluids, antibiotics, medication, and tube feeding are very basic things, I have no doubts that any other clinic could do it. You need a vet that WANTS to save your bird, as it seems that no amount of money you throw at this one is making her care, and if things take a turn for the worse, you NEED a vet that cares.

Degree: The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine 2002
Awards and Certifications: Iams Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Award, Association of Avian Veterinarians Focus Courses in: Pathology, Diagnostics, Disease, Therapy, Surgery and Anesthesia.
Here is more info on the AAV courses: http://www.aav.org/general/custom.asp?page=focusedcourse

No it's not the most impressive resume ever. But if she has a genuine care for birds and has the knowledge and facilities to take care of him, I would still consider moving him... if not to this vet, then another one with avian experience.

 

Exactly, I totally agree with you. I have been screwed like you woulnd't believe by MDs who have the "best" credenitals". Credientials or where they went to school means nothing! It really does.

But, Rascal does seem to be improving where he is currently at. I am just counting down the days. It will fly by fast. I am also visitig him twice a day now. I do fell he would be much better with me at home, he will be home with me very soon.

I am going to bring him several of his favorite toys they can put inside his incubator so that at least he has his toys with him. Tech said I can finally put some toys in there.

 

I guarantee your veterinarian is a severe bi-polar. Very strange behavior

 

I agree. Very bizarre experience.

 

Some vets take any questioning of their practices as an insult to their knowledge - I once had a cat vet who swore Hills/Science Diet was the best pet food known to mankind and that I was killing my diabetic cat by not feeding him prescription Hills food.... of course, anyone who actually cares about cat nutrition knows that Hills is absolute garbage and the prescription foods either have no medical ingredients or one that masks the symptoms rather than treating the issue... anyway, upon asking him why he recommended it so much or what benefit it had for my cat, he started borderline yelling at me in an extremely irritated manner, talking so fast that I could barely understand him with his heavy accent. A bit more research showed that during his time in vet school he took nutritional classes that were funded by... you guessed it... Hills. And he had nothing but 5 star raving reviews on vet review sites. Some vets just suck.

 

Almost all doctors have had virtually NO nutritional education, they just knwo how to push toxic drugs and are heavily influenced by large corpations. Sad the way this worlds works... all for $$$$

 

Not good, my mind keeps repeating what the vet said today on the phone. She said more than once that his phoshorus level which was 9.8 is only seen in those who are at the end stage (most advanced stage) of kidney failure.

If I don't have a heart attack or faint the day she calls me with the blood results it will be a miracle. My heart is going to be racing when I get that call. I amtotally fraking out, must stay calm somewhow.

 

I didn't get to speak to that other 3rd avian vet today "Susan Clubb" because of the bizarre chaos that occurred this afternoon which had me running around frantic, so I will be talking to her tomorrow morning 10:30am and will inquire what her thoughts are his blood work.

 

I'm so glad you got your trip shortened. The next several dCount 1234 with metronome set at 4ays are going to go by so slow for you. Please remember to take care of yourself. You don't want to be ill when Rascal comes home! I hope the blood tests come back with better results next week. Your boss sounds very nice and understanding. That's so cool. I think that leaving him where he is would be the least stressful for now, but it's great that your calling around for other opinions. That's a smart plan. Know that you are doing the best for your little man. My heart goes out to you and Rascal!

 

Your boss is pretty awesome for helping you this much. And that vet is as equally terrible as your boss is awesome.

I don't know if this will help, but I found my nice vet through here: http://aav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=1803 See if it helps you too.

 

Juliet I agree that what really matters is a professional that is interested in your bird.A high fly resume doesn't always mean success.I am anxious for the test results,pity we are going to have to wait until Monday or Tuesday . I think you are doing the right thing in. Isiging him twice daily, it sends them a message that you are a responsible owner and is keeping an eye on them.If in the meantime you have any doubts about where it sould be best for Rascal to be ,just listen to your heart and dont hesitate .You do not deserve to have to put up with some vet that has a few unresolved issues to deal with That should NEVER interfere with patient care .I keep praying for little Rascal and you I had tears in my eyes when I saw his pics preening Please keep updating us on everything We are here for you Sending lots of love for Rascal and for you X x Teresa

 

Juliet I agree that what really matters is a professional that is interested in your bird.A high fly resume doesn't always mean success.I am anxious for the test results,pity we are going to have to wait until Monday or Tuesday . I think you are doing the right thing - visiting him twice daily, it sends them a message that you are a responsible owner and is keeping an eye on them.If in the meantime you have any doubts about where it sould be best for Rascal to be ,just listen to your heart and dont hesitate .You do not deserve to have to put up with some vet that has a few unresolved issues to deal with That should NEVER interfere with patient care .I keep praying for little Rascal and you I had tears in my eyes when I saw his pics preening Please keep updating us on everything We are here for you Sending lots of love for Rascal and for you X x Teresa

 

If I was you I would transfer your bird. Sounds like your current vet was scared of losing money. Notice how she told you to take your bird home and once you said you were transfering her she all of the sudden was ok with him staying a little long and now wants to redo blood work. Yet the other vet was more WILLING and able to share information about your birds results. She also immediantely started bad mouthing the competition. All signs point to the first vet being a money hungry *****. I would transfer your bird immediately

 

Yes, I do think something is seriously off with this vet. I don't know what to do. Now I am again scared to move him. I do know the tech that has been mostly caring for him has been doing a great job though and he seems to like my bird. I am actually going to speak to the vet I wanted to transfer him to tomorrow as well as the other 3rd vet (I have not spoken to yet) because this has gotten too complicated with what happened today.

Just incase anyone's curious, here's the report the vet FINALLY sent to me. I have now been able to send in all my documents/evidence to animal control authorities.

Next, the state attorney must be started with a case, I've just been too stressed about Rascal surviving to pursue going after this horrid woman to pay the rather very large vet bills I'm being hit with... but need to get that going also.

I have to get up early tomorrow, so I am forcing myself to hit the hay. I don't know what I would do without this forum. You guys are all awesome and super helpful. Thanks so much.

Sorry, I know the report is a little hard to read, but she put down wrong age for Rascal, he is not 3.... yet =) Other than that, I think she did good job on the report?

 

Very good report that will go along way when dealing with charges for this pet sitter . I hope she see's justice big time and is not allowed to own animals or sit animals again and jail time along with covering all the medical bills you are incuring why getting him better

 

Glad you got the letter. If you feel he's getting the care he needs at the current vet, don't stress him out with a move - but if the vet is going to refuse treatment and try to get you to take Rascal home early I would transfer elsewhere.

I don't know a lot about kidney/renal failure in birds, but hopefully the residual damage is manageable with a low protein diet and such. Hoping for good news with the test results next week.

 

Also another thing to consider that the vet "had better things to do than get you your papers" until you mentioned switching. Those better things to do I will guarentee you that they involved nothing to do with any type of vet care for any of her patients.

 

It all depends on the factors of what's happening with him if you move him. Maybe the vet told you he was doing worse to keep you there for a while longer. The blood tests should show the results.

How are the 3rd vet's credentials? If they're better go with them. I don't like this vet, she's kind of shady even if she's doing a good job. It's not right for her to completely blow you off until your boss calls her. That's not a good vet.

If his tests are good that would probably be the time to move him if you're going to. If the drive is short and you cover him with a blanket, I think he could handle it. I'd ask them to make sure that they have a bird incubator, fluids, medicine, and all the other treatments he is on right now ready before you transfer him though. Otherwise he would do worse when you got him there and he has to wait for it.

You definitely deserve some sleep! I hope Rascal is doing better tomorrow.

 

I don't get what is wrong with the "nice" avian vet... I'm not finding anything online, but I haven't really dug deeply. I'd definitely be tempted to move him because you have to be able to trust the doctor to make the correct decisions and to not only listen to what you're saying but actually hear what you're saying and this current vet fails on all three counts by my vote. I only think you should put up with that when you have no other choice, but you clearly have other choices and the "nice" vet looks like a fine option to me.

BUT.

You're about to leave town and he is settled where he is. Also, the tech is the one doing most of his care and I'm assuming he's there full time and that kind of consistency is worth its weight in gold. Also, no stressful move to worry about (although 5 miles away I don't think is in any way a deal breaker).

So I guess, if it were me, I'd have him stay where he is for now but with plans to immediately move him to the new place should one more funky, unacceptable thing happen. I would definitely keep a line of communication open with the "nice" vet, but low key so you don't burn a bridge by asking for tons of "free" advice, you know?

I don't know if any of that is helpful but you're spinning in circles and I know that when I do that, I really rely heavily on opinions of others just to get me started down a certain road until I feel my feet back under me and am able to feel confident with my own decions. So that's my two cents.

Oh, and go Rascal! I wish he could get some basic labs done sooner than later because yes, those lab results you posted were old and were from when he was clearly in crisis. He's looking and acting so much better now, so I think his labs could now paint a different picture.

I don't know diddly about bird anatomy and physiology, but I do know that a common sense approach that is widely accepted is to look at the patient rather than just the lab values. Rascal's old as dirt lab values say he's a very sick bird but Rascal himself, today, is saying he's a bird on the mend. Obviously that can change and no one can predict the future, but I think there is a lot of value in trusting what you are seeing with the bird himself instead of the numbers on a sheet of paper (especially when those numbers are from his absolute sickest time!), you know?

 

I don't know diddly about bird anatomy and physiology, but I do know that a common sense approach that is widely accepted is to look at the patient rather than just the lab values. Rascal's old as dirt lab values say he's a very sick bird but Rascal himself, today, is saying he's a bird on the mend. Obviously that can change and no one can predict the future, but I think there is a lot of value in trusting what you are seeing with the bird himself instead of the numbers on a sheet of paper (especially when those numbers are from his absolute sickest time!), you know?

Even ER doctors follow this rule when seeing if a patient is getting sicker or not. Happened to me last August. Within 15 minutes of being in the ER the doctor told me he thought I had menigitis and if he was right it would have progressed past the point they could help me and I wouldn't make it through the night. A few hours later the doctor came back and told me that because I wasn't looking any sicker but rather staying about the same he was starting to doubt his diagnosis but that I was clearly very sick. The doctor was wrong as I am still alive but most of his diagnoising was done on visual clues as blood results take a while to come back and when your that sick you might not have the time to wait on them. So I say you can determine if he's ready to be moved based on your bird and how he looks/appears to you.